Disney's Alice
by Curious Archer
Summary: On a stormy evening, Tilly gets stuck at my house. With nothing better to do, I decide to put on my favourite Disney film to pass the time, but Tilly seems to get irritated by it to a weird extent. Seriously, what's wrong with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? Cursed Robin's POV. Curious Archer Movie Night!


The rain started just as I stood up to make myself a hot chocolate, but by the time I added a whip cream topping and paused to look out the window, I saw that the roads were already flooding. We lived on a slight hill, so the rain was rushing down the concrete like a waterfall or a rushing stream, pouring down all the storm drains but not nearly quickly enough to keep large puddles from forming at odd places and in each and every dip and ditch in the road. It was coming down like the start of a powerful storm and the grey clouds hanging overhead were most definitely threatening not to go away any time soon. And judging by the bending of the trees across the road, the wind was blowing something fierce, almost to the point of being dangerous. I felt sorry for any of the poor fools stupid enough to try taking an umbrella out into this weather. If they had any sense, they'd keep themselves locked up indoors for the night rather than trying to get anywhere until the rain and wind had eased off.

Mum was still working so she probably hadn't had a chance to call me yet, but at this point I was just waiting for the message that said she'd be staying late in hopes of waiting out the worst of the weather undercover. She was such a health freak as of late, to the point that she insisted on walking to work rather than taking a car like a normal person and on days like today it just came to bite her on the ass. At the very least it gave me a good laugh, not to mention a beautiful few minutes of peace where I didn't have to deal with her constant nagging about my future.

I was still standing, staring out the window at the pouring rain lost in thoughts about how the clouds were pulling together so tightly that it looked like it was almost night rather than just the late evening, when there was a knock from close by. It was such a shock that I almost spilt the hot chocolate down my chest when I flinched at the noise. I narrowly avoided scalding my torso with a quick step back, stretching my arms out in front of me with the cup still cradled between my palms and quickly set the drink down on the side. My heart was thudding in my chest from the surprise, but I barely thought twice before I was automatically walking into the hallway, looking towards the closed front door and the source of the knock. With the weather as bad as it was, I couldn't imagine why anyone would dare trekking out in it for a visit this late in the day.

I almost considered ignoring them. It would serve them right. There had been plenty of weather warnings over the day and even hints about it yesterday so it's not like the dark clouds sprung up out of nowhere. Then there was a loud bang of the wind causing someone's gate to slam loudly against its fence, and I found I couldn't just leave them after all. The warnings had been only rough, and the rain had started within minutes at most, so it wasn't like they had purposely come out when it was at its worse and even if they did, they must have had a reason, maybe even an important one that couldn't wait until tomorrow. So, despite the thoughts in the back of my head that were still screaming scenes from all the latest horror movies I'd seen, I walked over and opened the door.

I actually don't know what I expected but I found myself staring at a familiar and pretty young woman that looked like she had just been the victim of an attempted drowning. Tilly, the girl who I often saw lounging around under the bridge troll or creeping along and spying for that weird old Detective Weaver, was standing on my doorstep and she was positively drenched. Her long blonde hair was tangled and dripping a puddle on the floor at her feet, sticking to her face and neck and her clothes were all three shades darker than they normally were and drooping off her body from where they had soaked up most of the rain water and were now twice as heavy.

"Lemme in!" Tilly shrieked, storming in and shoving past me into the hallway, trailing water behind her with shoes that squelched with every step on the hardwood flooring.

I was so taken aback by her sudden surprise appearance, that I didn't say anything when she forced her way into my home and began ringing her hair out in the middle of the hallway. The storm outside was still raging and when a blast of wind and a spray of rain water almost knocked me of my feet, I rushed to push the door close, struggling slightly before turning to find Tilly now grinning up at me like we were best friends since childhood.

"It is raining cats and dogs out there!" Tilly gasped, shaking her arms like a dog trying to throw the water off its fur.

"Hey!" I snapped. "You're throwing water everywhere!"

"Oh," Tilly stopped mid shake and looked down at the puddle of growing water at her feet. "Sorry." She said, shrugging sheepishly.

For whatever reason, I found it hard to stay mad at Tilly, especially when she gave me that little pouting look. Not when she was looking so cute. "It's fine, just wait here and I'll go get you a towel."

Tilly nodded politely, and I ran passed – nearly skidding in the puddle on the way – and jumped up the stairs, two at a time. I don't know why I was rushing but for whatever reason I couldn't resist hurrying as I gathered two thick towels from our upstairs closet and began racing back to her. Only this time, when I slowed to a jog back to Tilly's side, I _did_ slip in the puddle around her and dropped hard to the floor at her feet, the towels landing by my now aching and bruised backside. The banging I made as I hit the floor was covered by the wind of the rain, but Tilly still jumped in surprise and looked down at me with a look on her face like she wasn't sure whether to laugh it off or ask if I was alright.

In the end she settled for the laugh with a soft expression on her face. "Woops." Tilly said in between her nervous giggle, reaching down to offer me a hand back up.

I smiled, to show I was alright, if not incredibly embarrassed. "Uh. Thanks."

Normally I wasn't this clumsy – I had a natural athletic build that made me downright graceful, to put in the words of my overbearing mother – but then, normally there wasn't a puddle of water in my hallway either. Feeling like a complete idiot, I reached up, accepting the offered hand and subconsciously noting that she wasn't just wet from the rain, but freezing cold as well, like her hand had a layer of ice covering the skin and I eager clung on to share my warmth.

Tilly heaved and helped pull me back onto my feet, until I had stumbled and balanced so that we found ourselves standing as close as two people could get to each other without actually physically touching one another. This close, I could feel how much she was shivering, though her breath felt comfortably hot against my face. I was surprised to find we were roughly the same height. For some reason I had always had it in my head that she was taller than me… Though maybe that was because whenever I saw her in the streets, she was always standing on something that left her towering over me all the time.

I realised we had just been standing, inches apart, staring at one another for a few silent seconds when Tilly suddenly cocked a smile and tilted her head, grinning at me with a little spark in her eye. Even with water still dripping down her face and her limp hair in desperate need of a halfway decent brushing, I couldn't help but note how beautiful she was. And not just beautiful. The way she held herself, the way she smiled and tilted her head at me like that, even biting the inside of her lip a little… Well… Damn. It looked pretty sexy!

At that thought I realised we were still just standing, smiling at each like a couple of dorks. I felt my face blush and took a careful step back, slowly (and yes, reluctantly) letting go of her hand and shuffling awkwardly for a second. Tilly didn't seem to mind. She was still grinning as I dropped and picked up the towels from the floor, turning and holding the two of them out to her and trying to ignore the fact that my heart was beating twice as fast as it had when I had been running around up and down the stairs a moment ago.

"Here you go." I said, shrugging a little because I wasn't sure what else to do with my body. Not many people could make me feel this way (unsure and conscious of every movement I made) and I wasn't sure why Tilly was among those that could.

"Thanks!" Tilly said, throwing one towel over her head and using the other to pat down her leggings and skirt.

"No problem." I said, then moved around. "Here let me take your coat off. We can hang it up."

Without saying a word, Tilly let me pull her coat of her shoulders before leaning down to continue dabbing at her legs. Despite the thick material and extra fur lining the inside, the coat did little to protect her white vest and red plaid shirt from the rain fall. I turned away and hung the coat up above the heating vent by the door, though I doubt it would be anything less than extremely damp by the time Tilly was ready to head home. When I turned back around, Tilly was facing me, and her vest was almost completely see through.

This time, I was very aware at how I was staring. I tried to casually cover it up by giving her a little cheeky smile. "Nice bra." I noted playfully.

Tilly glanced down and then slowly pulled her plaid shirt to cover herself, however she didn't seem embarrassed in the slightest. "Well you can cross that off your bucket list." She said, teasing me right back.

"Will do." I giggled, then crossed my arms and frowned. "But seriously, Tilly. What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I was looking for your mum. I have a message to pass on from Weaver." Tilly explained.

"She's still at work." I glanced back to where the wind could be heard through the walls. "And I don't think she'll be coming home any time soon."

"You're kidding?!" Tilly said, looking appalled. "I came running through the rain for nothing?!"

I couldn't help but feel a little amused, all things considered. "You could have just called ahead."

"I don't have your number." She grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Well. We'll have to fix that." I said quietly. She smiled but showed no other indication that she had heard me, so I went on. "Look, I have no idea when mum will be back. But you're more than welcome to hang around. Even if she doesn't get back, the rain might stop by the time you leave, or at least it might ease off a little."

"Well if you insist!" Tilly beamed, already reaching down to untie her shoes and make herself at home.

I grinned again, shaking my head at just how laid back she was. It was a nice break to the strict, tight attitude my mother smothered me with every day. "Tell you what, I'll let you borrow some of my clothes, maybe a dressing gown or something, and we can try drying your stuff off before you leave." I offered, walking towards the stairs again, making sure not to slip up on the water still stretching over the hallway. I would need to clean that up before mum got back.

Tilly laughed as she took off her socks and her plaid shirt, ignoring the fact that her vest was still completely see through before following me along. "I don't even have your number and you're already getting me to strip for you."

"What can I say." I shrugged, glancing over my shoulder and winking at her. "It's a really nice bra."

She laughed loudly behind me, and I felt a little proud as I led her up to my bedroom. Since we were roughly the same size, it wasn't too hard to find some clothes for her to wear. In the end she settled with some old pyjamas of mine. A lose white polo shirt and a matching pair of navy trousers with multicoloured neon heart outlines over each leg. I used to wear it all the time but somehow it looked so much better on Tilly than I ever remembering it looking on me.

When she had changed she put her long hair up in a towel and carried her clothes back downstairs where I showed her where she could stretch them out by the heaters. It was weird. We were both acting so casual and even homey despite the fact that we never had more than a couple minute conversations at a time. We talked and asked how each other was doing but we'd never go so far as to even call ourselves friends. Or at least I wouldn't. Maybe Tilly would. She didn't seem to have many, so I guess it kind of made sense that she could think of me in that way. Suddenly I felt guilty for thinking they we weren't. I mean, what are friends if not people who have conversations and enjoy each other's company?

"So!" I said, trying to get out of my head. "Want to watch a movie with me while we pass the time?"

"Sure," Tilly said, following me into the living room. "What do you wanna watch?"

"Well, I was going to watch an old childhood favourite of mine." I grinned, grabbing the case that was sat on top of the DVD player. "Alice Adventures in Wonderland."

"Huh, I've never seen that one." Tilly said, sitting down on the sofa and pulling her legs up to cross them on the cushion.

"Really?" I asked. "I thought everyone had seen the Disney Classics!"

Tilly shrugged with a little half sad smile. "I never really had the time to watch any of them back in the home."

"Oh, well you can watch them all with me if you want." I said quickly, feeling a pang of guilt for rubbing my home life in her face. I walked over to her quickly. "And what better place to start than with my favourite!"

"I'll hold you to that." Alice grinned excitedly, bouncing slightly before we both got comfy in our seats and I pressed play.

About a quarter of the way through the film, I had to pause it.

"What's wrong?" I demanded, turning in my seat to frown at her.

"What?" Tilly asked innocently.

"Come on, Tilly. I'm sitting right beside you. I can hear every huffing and puffing noise you make." I noted, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh… It's nothing." Tilly shrugged, looking back at the television.

"Seriously." I pushed. "What's the problem?"

"It's just… Did they have to make Alice such a posh little tot." Tilly said, scowling at the screen. "She's so damn annoying!"

I blinked, glancing at the screen where Alice was standing with her feet together and her hands on her hip. "Well, I mean, I think it's a product of the time type thing. But it's no big deal. I mean she's not _that_ bad."

"Hmm," Tilly grumbled.

After a moment, when she made no further comment, I pressed play and leaned back in my seat again. Ten more minutes in, Tilly rolled her eyes and made a clicking sound with her tongue. This time I didn't even bother pressing pause. I had seen the film and Tilly didn't seem to mind if she missed bits and pieces. In fact, she looked like she would prefer it.

"Alice still bugging you?" I asked.

"Well at the start of the film she claimed she wanted to go to her own little world and have fun but ever since she got there she's been complaining about wanting to get home. She's so spoilt! Even when she gets what she wants, she whines about it." Tilly scowled. "And anyway, it's not just her." Tilly admitted. "Everything in it is so freaking bright!"

"Well it is a cartoon." I noted.

"Yeah but does it still have to be so bright?" Tilly stressed. "I mean, couldn't they at least dull it down to make it a little more realistic?"

"Tilly. It's a cartoon." I repeated.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Tilly gave me a tight smile. "Just ignore me."

I had to silently remind myself that Tilly said she hadn't really seen any of these kinds of Disney films back in her old home. It was probably safe to assume that she hadn't really seen any proper cartoons at all if the bright colours of this film were annoying her that much.

We both fell silent and continued watching the film for the third time, but Tilly still wasn't happy. She did her best to keep from making any obnoxiously loud breathing noises, but she couldn't resist twitching around and shifting like she couldn't get comfortable where she was sat. Every now and then she pulled a face like confusion or pressed her lips together like she was resisting the urge to say something in aggravation.

I was quickly finding it more entertaining watching Tilly than Alice.

"Okay. I'm sorry, but does everything in this place talk?" Tilly snapped, so suddenly that it made me jump.

"What?" I blinked.

"The rabbit and the other animals were all bad enough, but now all the flowers talk as well? And why are they all like oddball old ladies or gossiping women?" Tilly asked.

"Well…" I said and shrugged.

"Sorry, yeah, I know. Just a cartoon."

She fell quiet again. When they came to the smoking caterpillar, she oddly enough didn't seem to have any problems with him. Nor did she have any issues with the drinks and foods that changed the consumers size. It was funny how some bits seemed to go so far as to even piss her off, while other bits she didn't seem to think twice about.

"And what's with the creepy cat?" Tilly scowled suddenly after another long silence of quiet throat noises.

"That's the Cheshire Cat." I said, as if that explained everything.

"Look, I could get by with a weird ass cat. But this one can turn parts of his body invisible and fly and… What? Transport itself across Wonderland and separate its body parts but still move them?" Tilly said, waving a hand. "That's just ridiculous!"

Okay, that made me laugh. "Tilly. It's Wonderland! The whole point of it is that nothing makes sense there."

Tilly frowned. "Why? Just because it's another land. Why would nothing make sense? I mean, surely there should be some reason behind it. It's not just from her imagination is it? There should still be rules!"

I went to answer but found I had nothing. I couldn't defend that because, well, it was just part of the film! That would be like asking why Harry Potter characters took a train to Hogwarts! It was just how the story went!

"I think…" I began. "It is heavily implied that this whole adventure is just a dream of Alice's."

"Seriously?" Tilly frowned. "They're using the whole 'it was just a dream' excuse?"

"Well, remember, it is very old. So that kind of cliché was probably not as worn out by the time this film came along." I defended.

"It's still dumb." Tilly grumbled. "And why does everyone sing? Like the Mad Hatter? Why on Earth would he sing?"

"Okay, Tilly." I reached over, grabbing her hand. "You are thinking way too much into this. It's a fun movie about a girl who enters a surreal world and has adventures. There's singing cause it's a Disney film and Disney films always have music in it. But anyway, it's really not meant to be thought about or taken too seriously. It's just meant to be for fun."

Tilly said nothing, slouching in her seat and scowling at the tea party scene. She seemed even more annoyed by the end of that musical number than anything else, scowling and cringing at it like there was something she wanted to say but seemed to decide not to bother. For the moment she kept her mouth shut. Though despite her best efforts, I still found myself watching her more than the film and doing my best not to laugh because I didn't want to offend her. But it was so funny! Her eyebrows furrowed intensely, and she began biting her lip again, except now it was from annoyance rather than flirting. And all because of a Disney cartoon!

"You are not enjoying this at all, are you?" I asked finally, unable to keep the giggle out of my voice.

Tilly sighed, sitting up and reaching to pull her hair down from the towel, throwing to towel to the floor like that had released some of the pressure weighing down on her. "I'm sorry. I'm probably just being a big bore about it but… The whole thing just annoys me! I'm not even sure why. I've seen weird films before but for some reason... Everything about this one just grinds on my nerves like someone telling a really unfunny joke but that joke just keeps going on and on and you just want it to be over already!"

"That bad?" I blinked, the laughter fading from my voice.

"Well. I mean... Like this!" She waved her hand at the screen. "Alice is such an annoying baby. She doesn't do anything useful except run around and complain about everything. I mean, she meets the Red Queen, who is literally about to murder three card people and, what does she do? Plays a game of crocket?! Seriously?! If I was her, I would have thrown the red pain in her face and shoved that little heart stick up her ass. Then I would have made a run for it and gotten the hell of the whole place. Or at least gone somewhere they didn't use live animals to smack each other in some sick version of an old English game!"

"I have to admit; your version would have been more interesting." I giggled.

"Seriously, all she does is whine about everything in that simpering annoying voice of hers." Tilly grumbled. "She's giving me a headache. And how many card people has she let get murdered without even saying anything?"

"Well she is just a little girl." I said in her defence.

"Being young is no reason not to speak up against cruelty." Tilly said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

I hesitated. "Tilly, do you want to put on something less… Frustrating?"

Tilly blinked then shrugged. "No, it's fine. I mean, you said this is your favourite film, so I don't mind watching until the end…" She paused. "Uh, and how long away from the end are we?"

"Well not long." I laughed. "Just have to put up with the trial now."

"There's a trial?" Tilly gawped.

I bit back another giggle at the expressions on her face as the cartoon characters all seemed to come back and have the stupidest trial in the history of cartoon trials. I wasn't even pretending to watch the film any more, almost turned completely around to watch Tilly instead as she groaned and twisted, stretching her legs and kicking slightly as the film went on. When it came to the chase scene with all the cards, Tilly seemed ready to start screaming and I noticed she was squeezing her fingers together tightly like that was the only way she was keeping quiet.

This was the weirdest movie night I'd ever had with anyone. For whatever reason, this film seemed to really be annoying Tilly and it sounded like even she didn't know why. The only thing she seemed one hundred percent sure of was that she found the main character, Alice, to be the most annoying character she had ever had to watch.

And then came the 'it was all a dream' part of the film.

"So that entire film was just pointless?" Tilly demanded.

"It was just for fun." I said with another laugh, watching her cringe like she had just swallowed a lemon whole.

"There was nothing fun about listening to that know it all's voice talking for two hours." Tilly growled, crossing her arms and sulking in her seat.

I swallowed back another giggle and took a breath to keep from smirking. As much as I was enjoying Tilly getting worked up over a harmless light-hearted film like Alice In Wonderland, I still didn't want to upset her by laughing so directly in her face for too long. So instead I glanced back towards the window behind me.

The rain was lighting up now. Almost to a gentle drizzle. The wind was still plenty heavy, but even that looked like the worst of it had mostly passed. If Tilly was going to get home, then she should probably head out now before it started up again or got too late.

But rather than say any of this out loud, I found myself turning back around and leaning towards her slightly. "Look. Alice wasn't your favourite. Fair enough. But how about we try a different one? I don't want one bad film to put you off the Disney stuff altogether. Especially because you never had a chance to appreciate them when you were younger. So, come on. Try another with me."

"Like what?" Tilly asked, instantly relaxing like she hadn't just been fuming a few seconds ago.

"Well, we could always try Robin Hood." I said, standing and grabbing one of the closest cases from the shelf by the TV. "You know the Robin Hood story? Well this is the same thing, but all the characters are animals. That and it's a lot more light hearted."

Tilly, hesitated with a serious frown before she looked up and nodded cheerfully. "Okay, let's give that a try. So long as there are no annoying little girls with voices that grate on your every last nerve." She added.

"Well there is the lion who can get pretty whiney. But he's the villain so you are kind of supposed to dislike him anyway." I laughed, putting the DVD in before returning to Tilly's side.

Before the film officially started, I quickly made a fresh hot chocolate (since my last one was now stone cold after being completely forgotten about) and a second one for Tilly. We balanced a bowl of Doritos between our legs (second best movie treat besides popcorn) and spent the rest of the evening indulging in tastes of cheese and chocolate (a strangely delicious combination).

Within the first few minutes, it was clear that Tilly was going to enjoy this film a lot more than she had enjoyed Alice. Right away she was laughing at almost all of the scenes with the King and his snake, sometimes even cheering for Robin Hood dramatically no matter how corny or over the top any of the scenes were. She didn't mind the rough animation style or the bright colours, and even tapped her foot along with most of the songs, bobbing her head for a couple and mouthing the words once she had caught on. It was amazing how different her reaction to the two films was. And as funny as it was watching Tilly get irrationally angry at Alice In Wonderland, I found I much preferred it when we were both having a good time watching Robin Hood instead, though I'd be the first to admit that this wasn't my favourite movie of the lot.

At some point during the film I fell asleep. I was woken by the sound of mum opening the front door and hissing under her breath about the puddle of water I had failed to clean up. She was trying to be quiet upon entering the house and it was almost pitch black apart from the bright glow of the TV which was currently showing the DVD menu, so I imagined it must have been quite late. I was still half a sleep, groaning slightly when I tried to sit up and stretch my limbs only to stop short when I felt the pressure of something against the top of my head.

Only then did I realise that I had fallen asleep leaning against Tilly, my head resting on her shoulder and her head resting over mine. She still seemed fast asleep and if I had been a little more awake, I might have gotten hot in the face from flustering, but I was still caught in that dozing state between being awake and being asleep and in the end, I shrugged it off, resting my head back on her shoulder and shutting my eyes again, not even outwardly noticing the way her hand rest over mine on top of her leg.

Mum was probably going to come in at any moment. She wouldn't even hesitate to switch on the light and if that didn't wake us up then I didn't doubt that she would come over and shake us awake because she wouldn't want us sleeping in the middle of the living room like this. But even so, for the moment I was so comfortable, and I didn't care what happened. I just wanted a few extra minutes curling up with Alice.

… Funny. Watching the film earlier made me accidentally think of Tilly as Alice. Bet that would be a lot more interesting than the Disney version.

* * *

 _Another Tumblr prompt! Wasn't sure what to do with this one at first but I like how it turned out. Not sure about the ending. Did it seem rushed? Lemme know!_


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